Chapter 31
Layla was the one to track Yelena down first, appearing out of nowhere and draping an arm over her shoulder as she continued to lead Yelena down the path she had been taking.
Yelena leaves her be for the moment, not wanting to act suspicious if something were amiss. She lets Layla walk her all the way back to her apartment and doesn’t speak until she had locked the door.
“Where were you?” Yelena demanded, folding her arms as she looked up at Layla. “You were supposed to--”
“I know, I know,” Layla interrupted and Yelena took stock of her, finally seeing how tense she was. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to leave you alone.”
Yelena pursed her lips in thought before she huffed. “What happened?” She ordered.
“We were being tailed by an Avenger,” Layla started before shaking her head. “Your sister.”
Yelena faltered, dropping her arms. “What did she say?” She asked quietly.
Layla grimaced slightly and Yelena knew that it wasn’t going to be good. “She knows that you’re White Knight,” the woman admitted.
Yelena absorbs the information for a few moments. “Does… does she know that it’s me?” She inquired softly.
“No. She was asking if you’re really my niece,” Layla gives her an apologetic look. Yelena doesn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved.
“And?” Yelena prompted, wanting to know what Layla told her. Layla grimaced again and Yelena frowned.
“I said you were,” Layla confessed and Yelena took a deep breath to keep herself calm as Layla continued. “I wanted to give you a cover story and feigned ignorance.”
“Okay.” Yelena nodded her head.
“You’re not upset?” Layla questioned when Yelena didn't get angry with her. “I ditched you and I didn’t consult you. I made up a cover story on the spot--”
“Layla,” Yelena interrupted and Layla looked down at her. “You did what you had to do. What’s done is done. I will get the documents I need to back up your claims. Do you have any siblings?”
“No, I was an only child,” Layla grimaced at the realization of her actions.
“You were an only child as far as they know,” Yelena corrected, racking her brain for contacts she could reach out to for paperwork and documents. Posing as thirteen-year-old Dina El-Faouly would let her blend in easier. Yelena had never properly established a civilian identity. She wasn’t sure she ever had one except for Yelena Belova who had once lived in Ohio. “I’ll sort things out.”
Yelena paused as she realized one thing and turned to Layla. “Did she touch you at all?” She asked.
Layla blinked. “What?” She asked in confusion.
“Natasha. Did she touch you at all, a bump or brush or even a touch of her fingers?” Yelena inquired and Layla frowned but nodded. Yelena stepped forward, her hands reaching out to immediately frisk Layla for bugs or listening devices. Layla lifted her arms and let Yelena pat her down. Yelena pulled away having not found anything.
“How did it go with the avatar?” Layla inquired and Yelena stiffened in surprise when Layla did the same thing Yelena had done moments ago only she was looking for injuries instead of bugs.
“Her name is Nour,” Yelena started as Layla looked for tears or blood on the clothes. “She’s… creepy.”
“Creepy?” Layla frowned, pulling away to face Yelena. “Creepy how?”
Yelena huffed, folding her arms. “She took me back to her hotel room and got handsy, trying to tell me that I was something to cherished by my God.”
Layla stared at her for a few moments, an indiscernible look on her face before she reached out to gently grip Yelena’s shoulders, the movement startling her. “What happened? Did she touch you?” When she sees Yelena’s slightly confused face, because Yelena already said she got handsy, Layla clarified. “Sexually.”
Layla’s voice is soft and gentle, concern in her eyes, and Yelena was confused. “No. I didn’t have to do that. I don’t think she actually wanted to fuck me,” her words have Layla flinching slightly. “I think she was trying to go a more…” Yelena tries to find the word to put Nour’s actions and body language into words. “Maternal route? She was playing on my youth.”
“Maternal?” Layla echoed in confusion.
“Her God calls me the child that never ages,” Yelena continued, frowning as she looked away from Layla to focus on a spot on the wall as she spoke once again, “She called me a child physically, mentally, and emotionally.” Yelena had never considered the ramifications of being frozen in the body that she died in. It made undercover work easier but it made surviving harder. “She offered me a chance to switch sides. She didn’t try to kill me.” Yelena finally pulled out the pieces of paper from her sweatshirt. “She gave me these.”
“What is it?” Layla questioned, reaching out to take the papers from her.
“I don’t know, I didn’t look at them, I was looking for you,” Yelena answered, regretting it when Layla winced, guilt flickering over her face. Layla spread the stack out on the kitchen table and Yelena’s face soured.
There were printed images of Yelena. Dozens of photos, mostly of the back of Yelena’s head or her shoulder as she turned a corner. Judging by the clothes and dates stamped on some of the photos, they had been watching her for nearly a year.
Yelena scowled. She sifted through the papers, observing each and everyone one of them, and tried to decipher which ones were just Khonshu piloting her body.
“Why would she give you this? “Layla questioned, picking up a piece of paper to inspect it.
“A bribe,” Yelena comments, and Layla glanced at her. Perhaps Nour didn’t mean it as a bribe but that’s what it was. Nour wanted Yelena on her side, to show her that they’d been watching her. “The dates on this span a year. But only recently have they actually attempted to kill me.” It wasn’t adding up. Yelena tries to think of all the knowledge that she held about the other Gods but Khonshu usually wouldn’t tell her unless she asked. “You know a lot about the Egyptian Gods, don’t you?”
“Yeah?” Layla sets down the piece of paper. “Why? What does that have to do with this?”
“Tell me about Apep,” Yelena can’t believe that it slipped her mind to even check. You had to know your enemy inside and out. She had been so focused on her own God and then about the woman who tried to kill her that everything else slipped her mind.
Layla led Yelena over to her desk with the books stacked on them, sifting through them and stopping every so often to flip through one to see if it held what she was looking for. Finally, she held one book out to Yelena, the pages opened to reveal an image and description.
Yelena took the book into her hands and peered down at it. She was staring at an image of a yellow snake, its torso coiled over and over to fit its long length on the page. It probably wasn’t an accurate depiction of the God but it was a start. The snake depiction caused the memory of Nour stabbing her to flicker to the front of her mind. Nour had used snake venom to poison Yelena, using what Yelena now interpreted to be two sharp mock fangs to inject it.
Yelena turned her attention toward the other page. “Apep, also known as Apophis, was the ancient Egyptian spirit of evil, darkness, and destruction. He was the arch-enemy of the sun god, Ra, and was a malevolent force who could never entirely be vanquished. Every night, as the sun traveled through across the sky, his roar would fill the air and he would launch his attack…”
Yelena paused, mulling over the text she had just read. She tilted her head to peer at Layla. “What have you heard of the sun god Ra?” When Layla started to recite quotes from books, Yelena shakes her head. “The actual God.”
Layla shakes her head. “You’re the first avatar that I’ve ever interacted with. I haven’t dealt with any other avatars or Gods before. I haven’t asked either.”
“Tawaret, does Ra have an avatar?” Yelena inquired, staring at Layla. Layla glanced around before giving Yelena an apologetic look.
“She must be busy, she’s not here,” she said. Yelena frowned because Khonshu wouldn’t have hesitated to appear and answer her question.
“Okay,” Yelena huffed, looking up at Layla as she pieces information together. “We have three Gods. Khonshu, Apep, and Ra. Khonshu is the God of the moon and vengeance. Apep is the God of evil, darkness, and destruction. Ra is the God of the sun…” Yelena flipped through the book to look for a section on Ra. She finds it, her eyes scanning the pages after glancing at the image of a man with a hawk’s head. “Power, and light.”
Yelena stared at the section of text before looking up at Layla. “What do all of these have in common?” She inquired. Layla thought for a few moments before grimacing and offering Yelena a helpless shrug. “We have the God of darkness, known for attacking the God of the sun, now attacking the God of the moon.”
“Oh…” Layla breathed out a few moments later, her brow furrowed.
“Yeah,” Yelena mumbled, looking down at the image of a snake coiled around a boat holding Ra.
Natasha should have known better than to confront Layla El-Faouly like that but she had to do it. White Knight was a child assassin with skills that could rival her own.
Natasha had wanted to help her. She had wanted to show White Knight that there was a better path for her. She had been so sure that White Knight was a Widow.
But despite whoever White Knight may have once been, she was now Dina El-Faouly, supposed niece to Layla El-Faouly. Still a child, yet still killing.
Natasha had needed to know if Layla was taking advantage of an abused child. Dina had been tense in the grocery store with each touch that Layla had given her. Layla had stopped her from running after them. Dina had been within feet of Natasha once but hadn’t spoken a word. Layla had been carrying an injured Dina in one shot they caught on cameras.
Perhaps Dina needed help and Layla wouldn’t let her get away. Dina had looked for survival after the fall of the Red Room and Layla took advantage of that.
Layla El-Faouly had no siblings. She had never been seen with a child resembling Dina’s features before. Layla could play stupid all she liked but her body language had betrayed her nervousness. She stuck to the story she had told the first time Natasha ever met her. Layla was not trained like Dina was but that didn’t make her any less dangerous, especially if she was pulling the strings of a child assassin.
Just that day, the cameras picked up on Dina being led into a high-end hotel by a woman that was not Layla and they later picked up a blur of Dina pausing to look into a window of a store and then reaching up to rub lipstick from her cheek as she tucked papers into her sweatshirt.
Natasha didn’t have to guess what went on in the hotel room. A Black Widow taught to seduce, a high-end hotel room, lipstick left behind as a mark of possession. Natasha just didn’t understand what Layla, a woman who couldn’t hide her body language very well, could be using a Black Widow for.
Natasha felt like she was running herself into the ground trying to piece together Dina and her story. But Dina deserved help. She deserved to get out and be free and establish a life for herself without someone else manipulating her for their own gain.
Natasha tells Maria to keep an eye out for documentation pertaining to one Dina El-Faouly.
The paperwork had been sifted into the records two days later. Layla El-Faouly now had custody of her thirteen-year-old niece.
Things were going to be harder than Natasha thought. She needed to get Dina out from Layla’s grasp without spooking her like last time.
But she was Natasha Romanoff and she had already lost one person to the Red Room. She was stubborn and she would not let things go.
She couldn't save her sister but she could save Dina.